Tendaguru

Tendaguru

The Tendaguru beds are a fossil rich formation in Tanzania. It has been considered the richest of Late Jurassicstrata in Africa. Continental reconstructions show Tendaguru to have been in the southern hemisphere during the Late Jurassic. Tendaguru is similar to the Morrison Formation except in its Marine Interbeds. The dinosaur life is also similar to that of the Morrison, with the presence of Brachiosaurus and Dryosaurus in both formations, and other dinosaurs with similar counterparts.

Dinosaurs found in Tengaduru

Ornithischians

Dryosaurus was a genus of iguanodont dinosaurs. Dryosaurus had a long neck, long, slender legs and a long, stiff tail. Its 'arms', however, with five 'fingers' on each 'hand', were short. It was about eight to 14 feet (2.5 to 4.5 m) long, five feet (1.5 m) tall (at the hips) and weighed 170 to 200 pounds (80 to 90 kg).

Dryosaurus had a horny beak and cheek teeth and, like other ornithopods, was a herbivore. It was probably a herd animal, which raised and protected its young after hatching. A quick and agile runner with strong legs, Dryosaurus probably relied on its speed as a main defense against carnivorous dinosaurs.

Like Stegosaurus, Kentrosaurus had a double row of plates running down its spine. The two differed in size, in the shape of their armour plating, and in their bodily flexibility, however. The bony plates gave way to spikes about mid-way along the spine. It also had spikes on its flanks.

Its scientific name is derived from being a southern (Gondwanan) relative of Diplodocus. The species name honors Boheti bin Amrani, a native crew supervisor and chief preparator who was an important contributor to the German expeditions that first excavated the Tanzanian sites.

Unlike most diplodocoids, Dicraeosaurus had a large head since its neck was shorter and wider. It also lacked the whiplash tail that diplodocids had. Its size was also different. It only reached 41 feet in length. It gets its name, which means two-forked lizard, from the spines that came from the vertebrae. They were not straight as in some members of the family. Each one was “Y” shaped, like a fork. These spines also provided muscle attachment points.

It was a large sauropod from the Tendaguru fossil locality in Tanzania; based on two anterior dorsal vertebrae (Holotype: MB.R.2092.1 (NB4) and MB.R.2092.2 (NB5) (Museum fuer Naturkunde, Berlin)) from Nambango, 15 kilometers (9 mi) southeast of Tendaguru Hill, Tanzania, probably in the Upper Saurian Bed, Tendaguru Series, Late Jurassic (Tithonian). The vertebrae are opisthocoelous (hollow behind) and differ from other known sauropods in their very low, almost nonexistent neural spines, which are not distinct bodies of bone, do not rise above the surrounding area of the neural arch and are continuous with transverse processes.